To Bridge the Gap
by generalfangirlie
Summary: Set before the demigods take off to Rome, between the SoN and the Mark of Athena.
1. Part 1

**Hi! This is NOT my first fanfic but I'm still pretty inexperienced. I'd really appreciate it if you gave me your advice!**

**So I think that the Mark of Athena should start sometime when they're on the boat going to Rome. So this is the much longed-for reunion.**

**To Clara-Ann, Amanda, Elena, Vicki and all my friends who read and reviewed this fanfic before it was published.**

Percy POV

The Roman demigods drew their weapons as the _Argo II_ landed, right on the border. Terminus lost it.

"This is ridiculous! You are breaking nearly every rule set about this border! So many weapons… so many rules broken…" he groaned, his torso waggling erratically. "Come here, you stupid flying, rule-breaking boat! I'm going to crush you!"

Percy walked up next to Reyna. "I don't wish for war. I hope you are right," she spoke softly, but Percy saw that she had sheathed her dagger. Good sign, right?

Percy nodded. "The Greeks won't attack. I'm pretty sure. We are not as," he paused to consider, "aggressive as Romans are. If it does come to war, I'm fully prepared to defend Camp Jupiter." As he spoke, he grasped the full meaning of his words. If Octavian persuaded enough campers to fight, he would have no choice but to fight against the Greeks, his family.

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Frank and Hazel She had explained her situation with Sammy and Leo, and he tried his best to reassure her. "Don't panic. It'll be alright." She nodded and took a deep breath. Percy smiled at her, and Hazel smiled shakily back.

Finally, the passengers on the _Argo II_ began to disembark. First, a blonde haired guy stepped off. His hair was regulation-cut, but he wore an orange T-shirt. Percy supposed that that had to be Jason, since Reyna sheathed her dagger in front of him. Some from the Fifth Cohort lowered their weapons, but the rest stood ready. Jason cupped his mouth and shouted over the distance. "We come in peace!" Percy snorted.

Octavian, who had been steaming silently, exploded. "This is clearly a trick! The Greeks will attack the minute you let down your guard, and Jason has led them here!" he shrieked, pulling a few seams out from a faded green toy rabbit. "This new praetor of yours is leading them! There is no doubt!"

When Jason reached the Romans, he unsheathed a _gladius_ that was hanging by his side and placed it on the ground, proving that he was unarmed. "Seriously, Octavian, would I really lead a Greek camp here to destroy the Romans? Relax."

At that point, the whole Twelfth legion chose to ignore Octavian's protests and dropped their weapons. The rest of the Greek demigods disembarked. Percy waited anxiously until Annabeth stepped off. Her eyes searched until they rested on Percy. She smiled, but hung back, looking slightly worried. Percy waved and grinned.

Once Jason closed the gap between the Greek and Roman demigods, Annabeth broke into a run, tackling Percy in a bear hug. "Percy! You're okay! Your mom called to tell us about your message; she said you were on a quest. Why didn't you Iris-message us or something? Do you know how worried I've been? We weren't sure you were going to come back alive! Thank god! I wasn't sure if you would remember me because Jason showed up with Piper and Leo, he couldn't remember anything at all. What took you so long to contact us? It's been EIGHT MONTHS." She looked as if she was going to punch Percy.

"Hera actually put me to sleep for eight months. Then I went on a quest to free Thanatos, god of death. That's why monsters stay dead now. And I tried to Iris-message, but someone jammed the line, for some reason. I would've called, but…" he shrugged. He hadn't remembered Annabeth's number until recently. Then Annabeth did punch him. "Ow," he complained. He'd grown a few inches over the past few months, so Percy couldn't see her expression,.

Over her shoulder, Percy saw Jason's orange shirt disappear inside a sea of purple. Octavian had run back to Jupiter's temple to avoid being trampled. Percy pitied the teddy bear that was on the receiving end of Octavian's anger as he heard a loud RIIIIP! coming from the temple. Reyna looked on, while Frank and Hazel were trying to talk to Leo and a dark-haired girl, who must have been Piper. Hazel was pale and she trembled slightly while talking to Leo.

Annabeth saw Percy looking. "That's Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, and Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, the guy who sent you the message. Piper seems to like Jason, and vice versa, though I'm not sure now…." Percy knew what she meant. Reyna clearly had a crush on Jason, though she did a good job of hiding it. But something else had caught his attention. Valdez?

He walked forward to Hazel and Frank, still holding Annabeth's hand." Hazel still seemed a bit panicky, so Percy introduced himself. "Hi, I'm-"

"Percy Jackson, we know. You're famous, man." Leo interrupted.

"Leo _Valdez_," Hazel emphasized, her voice trembling. Percy nodded and studied Leo. He did look a lot like Sammy.

Leo looked freaked out. He couldn't seem to figure out why Hazel looked so freaked out too. Percy tried to help.

"Do you know a… Sammy Valdez?"

Leo looked as freaked out as Hazel. "Um, my grandpa Sammy? He's dead."

"Grand-pa?" Hazel looked close to fainting. Then she slowly nodded. "Grandpa. Right." Her face slowly began to regain its color.

"Been dead for years. I never knew him," Leo said flatly. "How could you know him?" It was a valid question. Hazel was at least two years younger than Leo.

"Long story." Frank said, saving Hazel. "And we don't have time."  
>Piper smiled at Percy. She was very pretty. He couldn't decide the colour of her eyes. "Thanks for not blowing us out of the sky."<p>

"Hey, we're all on the same side. I knew that. I wouldn't have, even without prior warning."

Almost on cue, Reyna approached the group. "Percy, I would appreciate it if everyone returned to their cabins and the centurions gather with the Greek demigods at the Senate Room. I am certain we all have some extraordinary adventures to tell of," she smiled slightly at the sight of Jason being paraded around the camp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>The Senate Room was crowded. The centurions sat in front, along with all the Greeks and Romans. As Percy made his way to the front, he noticed that Rachel was there. She sat with the Greek demigods, looking perfectly calm in her usual T-shirt and shorts.<br>Percy stood to let Jason sit on the praetor's seat, but Jason shook his head.

"You've been raised as the praetor. It's your right to take your place as the praetor." Percy found it totally unfair, but sat down, feeling awkward to be sitting away from his Camp Half-Blood friends on the praetor's seat like a king. Jason sat among the Greeks, with Leo and Piper in the front row. Jason told his story, Leo and Piper occasionally adding parts.

When Jason was finished, Percy told his story, starting from the time he left the wolf house. All of them listened in silence until he explained the part about carrying Juno across the river.

"You lost the curse of Achilles?" Annabeth asked. Percy nodded

"I'm not invulnerable anymore." That's why it hurt when you punched me, he added mentally.

Reyna suddenly interrupted. "You bore the curse of Achilles?"

"Yes, I did. I lost it when I carried Juno across the river. Something about it being a Greek curse and the Tiber would wash it away, yadda, yadda, yadda."

"She made you lose your invulnerability?" Annabeth shook her head. "I knew they shouldn't have freed that her."

So Percy continued his story, Hazel telling the part where Percy fell from the ice, and Frank turning into an elephant. Frank turned red and smiled proudly. Percy added that Frank was also descended from Poseidon. When they finished their story, Reyna spoke. "It has been made clear that the Argo II must sail to Rome. So far, six out of the seven of the prophecy have been identified."

All the Greek demigods turned to Rachel. Reyna noticed and stopped talking. She looked questioningly over at Percy. He nodded absently and looked at Rachel. He gestured for her to explain.

"I'm Rachel, the Oracle of Delphi. I delivered the prophecy that you're talking about." Suddenly laughter erupted from the corner of the room. Percy turned and saw Octavian. He hadn't noticed him slip in from the Temple of Jupiter.

"That prophecy has been in the Sibylline books since the beginning of the Roman empire. We've known about it for centuries. Do you honestly think that we would believe that you delivered the prophecy of seven?" he scoffed.

Yeah, and _you_ have _so much_ credibility, Percy thought.

Rachel shot him a look. "Do you deny the existence of the Oracle of Delphi from the Greek stories? The Greeks also needed a source to tell the future in times of difficulty." Octavian turned red and glared at Rachel. "I can usually sense certain things. And I can tell that the seven of the prophecy are in the room right now. Nothing more specific." Percy waited for her to say something else, but she sat down.

Everyone was buzzing. Who was the last member? Percy considered it, and he remembered what he had said to Hera the night before. He'd said that Annabeth was the one he'd most want to have watching his back. She'd said that she would be coming on the quest with him. He stood up, raising his hand for silence.

"I think I know who the last member of this quest is." He could feel everyone's eyes on him. He turned to Annabeth and looked her straight in the eye. "It's Annabeth." There were some cries of protest from the Romans. But the Greeks cheered. Percy looked for her reaction. There was an expectant look in her eyes. She wanted an explanation.

"Juno-Hera, that is, visited me in a dream. She told me that Annabeth would be a part of this quest. You wouldn't contradict the Queen of Olympus, would you?"

Octavian shot back, "Then why must you leave immediately? I was under the impression," he sneered. "That you have recently freed Thanatos? Why hurry? We should take time to train and prepare for the tasks ahead." Some of the campers started nodding in agreement. Percy was about to stand up to argue, but Hazel beat him to it.

"We have to leave now because my brother Nico di Angelo's been captured by Gaia. He's a son of Pluto, by the way," she explained.

Percy grimaced. He'd forgotten. "They all know Nico."

Reyna looked at the Greek demigods, "You know Nico di Angelo?"

Percy replied, "Yep. Most of us do. Because Nico is actually a Greek demigod. You've known him all along."

**You know, when I was thinking about Nico, I think that he has too many OOCs. I think that I might introduce some of Nico's alter egos to my fanfiction page. Stay tuned! R&R! Give me your thoughts! Goodbye! Adieu! Ciao! Fare-*grandma drags away from computer***

**OH! I forgot the disclaimer!**

**Here it is: I Don't own any content of this story. None of the characters, none of the places, NOTHING! This is a completely book-based fic!**


	2. Part 2

**I finally finished this chapter! I hope you don't hate me. I worked hard on it. **

**Disclaimer: I really wish I owned anything. Technically, I've never paid for anything I own. So…. If you didn't get the meaning of that, you need to get your eyes checked. **

Jason POV

When Percy said that, Jason found himself pretty unsurprised. He could remember Nico, now that Percy had clarified it. But everyone else was whispering.

"What?" Reyna looked confused.

"That's right. While you've known Nico since he brought Hazel over a few months back, I've known him since he was ten. He persuaded his father to fight in the Titan war. That's one of the reasons why we won." Percy smiled. "You've known a Greek demigod and never realised it."

Although he was smiling, Percy's fingers were drumming restlessly on the side of the chair. He was uncomfortable in the Praetor's chair, Jason could tell. He'd been in that position before. Literally. That chair hurt your butt.

A murmur went through the crowd. Reyna nodded slightly and stroked Argentum's head. After a moment, she stood up. "Then we have no choice but to leave as soon as we can. We sail for Rome." She nodded, almost to herself. "This meeting is adjourned. I must speak with Percy, Jason, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Leo and Piper in the _principia_. We must discuss their plans."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason felt uncomfortable. Not that it was a comfortable situation to start with. Sure it was great to be back. But to have to leave so soon... what lay ahead, Jason didn't want to think about. Reyna stormed ahead, her eyes fixed at a distance. Percy was pulling at his toga; Annabeth was laughing at him. She seemed the happiest Jason had ever seen her.

Piper was the complete opposite. She walked next to Leo, looking very uncomfortable, frowning occasionally. She sneaked a glance at Jason; he smiled at her. She smiled back, but her eyes flickered to Reyna.

Jason followed her gaze and felt guilty. He liked Piper a lot-he had to admit that much-but he wasn't sure what he felt for Reyna. Thinking about her from Camp Half-Blood was painful at most; now he didn't know what to say.

Jason let his gaze slide to Leo, who was taking to Frank and Hazel. Hazel wasn't saying much, but she kept staring at Leo and biting her lip. Frank was explaining something to Leo, who looked really confused. He slowed his pace to listen to what they were saying.

"So you're saying that you knew my Grandpa Sammy? From like, seventy years ago? Talk about aging gracefully," Leo teased, but his surprise was still clearly reflected on his face.

"Well, I did know your grandpa, but I died in 1942. Nico found me in Asphodel. This is my second chance."

"She's doing a pretty good job of it," Frank added. Hazel swatted him in the arm. "It's true." He replied.

Leo noticed Jason eavesdropping. "Hey, Jason, what about that Reyna chick? Does she date?"

"Not happening, man." Jason fell into step with Leo and threw an arm over him. "As far as I can remember, she doesn't." Jason knew that Leo was prone to falling for any girl who wouldn't give him the time of day. Unfortunately. Thalia, most of the girls from the Athena and Aphrodite cabin and other smart, pretty and athletic girls had turned him down. Well, turning him down was a nice way to putting it. More like, ew, go away, pond scum.

"Aw man. Just trying my luck. Let's hope you amnesia extended to THAT part of your brain,"

Leo grinned.

Jason looked over. "Hey Piper? How you doing? Like it here?"

Piper smiled, but Jason could tell it was forced. "I'm okay. It's pretty nice here."

Jason looked at her. "Relax. It's okay. Nothing's going to happen. There are no monsters here, unlike Camp Half-Blood. Trust me, the dangerous ones here are the people. Not that you'll have a problem with that. You'll win them over, no charmspeak involved." He assured her. Piper blushed.

"Hey, don't I get the sweet talk?" Leo protested. "I'm nervous too." Jason punched him in the arm.

"Shut up, Valdez."

"Ow!"

Jason looked up at the bend in the road. "Okay, we're almost at the principia. It's just...there." Jason pointed.

Percy and Annabeth came up to the group. "I heard the Greek gods have gone silent." Percy said.

"Yeah, the place just... shut down. No gods are taking our Iris messages or anything, it's weird," Annabeth answered him.

"Hm. The Roman gods have been visiting though. Funny." Percy said.

"Not really. The Roman gods are different. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reyna got everyone into the _principia_ and sat down with a huff. Argentum and Aurum took their places by her chair. Percy looked around awkwardly before sitting down.

"So you'll be going to Rome as soon as you can. Who are you panning to bring with you?

You'll need crew. The others can stay here." Reyna asked Jason. Jason considered it for a minute.

"Are you coming with us?" Jason wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Piper freeze when he said that.

Reyna shook her head. "I have to stay here to protect this camp. I won't have it destroyed again." She glanced at Annabeth. Annabeth looked questioningly at Percy.

"Circe's island. She was one of the attendants." Percy answered. Oh, thought Jason. So that's where Reyna was from. She didn't talk about it much. Piper breathed out beside him. He kept his gaze pointedly away from her.

"Well, some of the Hephaestus bunch should come. They helped to build the ship, after all." Leo said. Jason nodded, still avoiding Piper's eyes.

"In regular circumstances the centurions would be encouraged to go, as is the Roman tradition. But it's up to you. This is not a regular quest," Reyna said.

"Yeah, we could ask some other Romans to help. Everyone here can build. Legionnaires are trained to build," he answered Leo's questioning look. "We can all help out."

"Sure. You can ask some of your centaurs or whatever." Jason rolled his eyes. Leo was fixated on Reyna.

Percy looked up. "So we're definitely going to Rome. Thanatos said as much."  
>"Beautiful people never lie," Piper added. Jason smiled.<p>

"So," Percy ignored her. "Thanatos mentioned that only one kid of demigod would be able to help us find the Doors of Death."

"So who is it?" Jason was curious. He guessed it had to be one of them.

"I... Don't know. Thanatos didn't say."

"Say it's not one of us seven. Then what? Anyone could be the person. How would we know?"

"I don't know." Percy repeated. Annabeth snorted.

"This is going nowhere. I suggest we all get everyone settled somewhere temporarily and think over this again tomorrow. You will need to leave as soon as possible." Reyna said.

"Totally. We need more food, more water... basically more stuff. Weapons are done. Maybe some of those gold ones too. Then we're ready to FLY, baby." Leo said.

"Wait," Percy turned pale. "Fly? Oh no. Oh no no no."

"Dude?" Leo raised his eyebrows. "Scared of heights?"

"No. Just... Son of Poseidon. Sea God. Flying. Zeus realm. BAD idea. We took a plane once. Zeus was throwing us around. Never again." Percy looked alarmed.

"Percy, relax. We've got Jason, right? Zeus or Jupiter, whatever, wouldn't blow his own son out of the sky." Annabeth reasoned with him. It was true. Jupiter had given the Argo II a smooth journey. He hoped that his father didn't hate Percy enough to shoot them out of the sky. It was hard enough with Gaia messing with them on land. Well, you never knew with Greek gods.

"Okay, then. Well, sea I can do. No problems there." said Percy.

"Very well. Frank, Hazel, show Leo and his crew to one of the Cohorts. They can sleep in some of the spare beds."

"No need. Got that covered. We've got beds and stuff on the ship. Even super heroes need downtime." Leo butted in. Piper rolled her eyes. It brought forward the colours of her eyes.

"Give it a rest, Fire boy."

"So now it's Fire boy now? What happened to the Amazing Flaming Valdez?" Leo argued as he walked out.

"F-flaming?" Frank stuttered.

"Yep. The amazing fire starter, Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus." Jason explained.

He peered at Frank. Although his expression gave nothing away, Jason could see that Frank was turning pale. He was about to ask about it when Percy quickly said, "Frank, Hazel, why don't you guys go? You can show the Greek demigods around the camp.

Hazel and Frank hurried out of the principia.

There was a brief silence between the remaining demigods. Percy broke the silence. "So…. Our plans?"

Reyna glanced at Jason. "You do realise what will happen should you fail. The giants could overthrow the gods and destroy all demigods, as well as mortals. The wrath of Gaia is great." She turned her gaze to Percy. "If Annabeth is not If that demigod who can find the Doors of Death is not among you, you might not be able to find the Doors of Death? You might have to travel back, and it would only delay your quest." Reyna looked concerned. Jason thought that Piper looked uncomfortable. She was fidgeting, and He turned to her. "Hey, Piper, why don't you go help with the ship? I think we'll be in here for a while." Piper seemed unwilling to go, but she cast a glance at Reyna before leaving the principia. Reyna's eyebrows lifted a fraction. Jason felt his face turn warm.

Annabeth spoke first. "I think if we're going to leave, we have to leave now. We're just wasting time by staying here. We could call for some backup from Camp Half-Blood, they could come here and work with you, Reyna."

"Yes, that's a good idea. I would ask Octavian to go on the quest with you, because he is, after all, the centurion from the First Cohort, as well as camp augur, but I don't think he likes Percy." There was a glint in her eyes. Jason could understand. Octavian would probably have been made praetor in his absence if Percy hadn't come along. His status as augur made him all high and mighty.

"Okay, yeah totally. So I guess we should start loading our ship. I reckon it shouldn't take more than a few days, considering that it's a flying ship. We'll need weapons and food and stuff." Jason said. "We could also leave some of the Greek weapons here."  
>Reyna nodded. "All right. I think we should start immediately in order to leave as quickly as possible, maybe tomorrow. The prophecy of Seven is one of the most important ever in Greek or Roman history. We can't afford to fail."<p>

Percy got off the praetor's chair. He almost tripped over his toga. Reyna stifled a laugh. "I guess I'll go help Frank and Hazel." He pulled up his toga and walked out with Annabeth.

Jason watched them go. Reyna was looking at him. "It's good to have you back. The Camp's been a mess since you went missing. Octavian's auguries are getting worse."  
>Jason was surprised. Reyna wasn't really one for expressing her feelings. And Octavian... "Well, so I think that Octavian will get along marvellously with Rachel."<p>

Reyna cracked a smile. He stood up. "You coming?" he asked. Reyna shook her head.  
>Jason walked towards the door, feeling her eyes on him. Before leaving the principia, he turned. "I think you and Annabeth will get along. And it's good to be back."<p>

**YAY! I finished! I mean, sorry for taking so long, I'm busy, and I'm rather… ahem… distracted in school by things… Things, which may not necessarily be ABOUT school… **


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